The Cue Card

I enjoyed the two books pictured in this post this week. You wouldn’t think they would have any similarities in common, other than their short length. Yet both include some vivid sentences and wisdom.

As for “Ru,” I was drawn to it after I heard the author Kim Thuy talking about it on NPR a couple weeks ago. Her first page, which was read on the radio, snapped me to attention:

“Ru” is an autobiographical novel that parallels Thuy and her family’s boat journey out of Saigon after the Vietnam War to a crowded Malaysian refugee camp for four months and eventually to a new life in Quebec. It’s told in a series of vignettes, the memories of which usually encompass a page each in the book and are shuffled back and forth between the various times of her life.

On the good side, the novel made me feel what it was like for the “boat people” who came over from Vietnam, their risks, fears and struggles. It also showed a glimpse into Vietnamese families and their culture, and especially expressed the feelings of living in a place of war and peace. “Ru’s” quite lyrical in the way it’s written, the passages evoke poetry in places, which I found both evocative and moving.

Just sometimes I got a bit lost in “Ru,” not knowing exactly who or what she was talking about, and maybe I couldn’t understand everything because of a cultural gap or perhaps the book’s back-and-forth structure. But still “Ru” left me with an impressionable picture of the boat people and of a survivor who seems grateful to have come through the hard sides of both war and peace.

“Good Dog. Stay.” from 2007 by Anna Quindlen was another pretty impulsive read this week. (Who knew she wrote a dog book?) It arrived in a package of dog books from my sister-in-law who was giving her collection away to us because we had recently gotten a puppy. The book is actually about Quindlen’s older dog, Beau, who is in the last stages of his life. In her usual wise and witty prose, Quindlen tells stories about Beau’s life and what she has learned from him along the way. Interspersed throughout it are lovely photos of a wide variety of dogs.

For anyone who appreciates canines or has lived through the passing of an old dog, “Good Dog. Stay.” is quite a soothing and touching quick read. It makes me want to read more dog stories, as well as other titles from Anna Quindlen. I think we can relate. Among other things, she knows the value of a dog’s life well-lived.

A member of my book club picked “Ender’s Game” to discuss this week, which surprised some of us. Not many of us typically read science-fiction, and this novel came out in 1985; it was expanded from a 1977 short story. Was it really something we could get into?

Still I was curious. Apparently most guys I know seem to have read “Ender’s Game,” which won the Nebula and Hugo awards when it came out, and it is being released as a movie in 2013, with Harrison Ford, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley and Viola Davis among others. It’s quite a cast. So I was willing to check out the book to see if it was more than just fodder for teenage boys.

The novel is set in the future after humans have fought two conflicts in space against an insect-like alien creature referred to as “buggers.” It’s about a young, gifted boy, Ender Wiggin, who is taken away from his family on Earth to train for the next war against the buggers at the exclusive Battle School, located in Earth’s orbit. He leaves behind a malevolent brother, Peter, and his beloved sister, Valentine, who he wont see for years.

At Battle School, Ender excels in military tactics amid the non-gravity atmosphere and leads his squad to victory in war games against the rest. He dominates the game but struggles with how his superiors manipulate his life and tip the playing field against him to groom him to be the ultimate leader. The pressures that he is the one to lead the forces to save Earth weigh on him, and he fears he’s like his brother, capable of hurting others.

After a grueling few years, he’s promoted to Command School, where a former war hero, Mazer Rackham, trains him using a war simulator. Soon Ender is commanding fleets on the simulator, practicing all-out war against the alien buggers. The simulations ramp up until his final test, which is like no other. What follows is an abrupt twist at the novel’s end that took me a bit by surprise.

Essentially, it’s a novel that involves becoming a leader, and what makes a good one. There’s a lot of war games and practice in it. I guess that’s why the U.S. Marine Corps has required the book in the past on its reading list. But it also raises ethical and moral questions about the military and waging war or obliteration.

“Ender’s Game” took me a while to get through, but I found it a surprisingly decent read, even though it’s not something I would normally pick up. It’s reading that’s a bit geared to young adult males, but it’s also semi-thought-provoking sci-fi, which is worth picking up every once in a blue while.

Although the early ’80s were a time of a lot of gushy pop and new wave music, I recall relying on Springsteen, Neil Young, and the Pretenders to see me through high school. Back then, I was only able to bring a select group of treasured vinyl records off with me to boarding school. Among these were Neil Young’s 1977 three-record set “Decade,” which had 35 of his greatest songs up until that point, and “Live Rust,” his double-LP live album released in 1979, which is a fantastic concert recording of 16 of his classic songs.

Holy smokes I played these two albums into the ground in high school. They blew me away. Neil wrote and played songs with such soul and genius. As the years went on though, I didn’t follow his music as closely (he’s been so prolific with various artistic departures), but there have been a few albums I’ve liked. More recently his 2007 release of “Live at Massey Hall: 1971” awed and reminded me of the classic Neil.

I wasn’t about to miss his memoir “Waging Heavy Peace” to get a glimpse behind his trove of amazing songs and his long history in rock. Heaven knows, there’s been an explosion of rock star memoirs these past few years with books from Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and now Pete Townshend too. Admittedly, I’m a sucker for these memoirs. Oh to get a glimpse behind the lives of such musical heroes!

As far as Neil’s memoir goes, it’s got a bit of everything in it and is not in any chronological order (a passage about 1965 could well be followed by something that happened in 1995). He writes about his life seemingly as things come to him, about memories or ideas or his family and friends, or his bands and music, or what he’s currently up to. It’s all quite down to earth, conversational and seemingly earnest. He seems like an old, affable hippie who’s seen and done a lot of things and is trying to become a better person in later life, where he’d once perhaps been quite difficult or prickly. Neil’s always been known to be his own person with own artistic direction and has quit bands or fired musicians wherever he felt it necessary.

He talks a tad about this in the book, his regrets of things he’s done but mostly the memoir is filled with heartfelt gratitude towards his very close family, friends and musical collaborators. He speaks of those who’ve been with him with a lot of admiration. There’s hardly a bad word about anyone or any acrimony in the book. And his love for his wife and kids, two of whom have physical disabilities is quite touching.

What surprised me I guess is to learn that Neil had polio as a child and also has suffered from epilepsy. But despite that, he’s always been highly productive and involved in various projects. I didn’t realize he was an inventor of sorts, making parts for model trains, converting a car (the LincVolt) to use cleaner power technology, and creating a device to hear music with a higher quality of sound. Part of his book sounds a bit like an infomercial, plugging his innovations. They’re interesting ideas no doubt, and his passion for his hobbies seems real and consuming. I was a bit amazed by all of the various projects he’s involved in, and how productive he is; he doesn’t seem to be slowing down any. In fact, he’s in concert with his band Crazy Horse this week in our town. (How coincidental!)

I enjoyed his memoir quite a bit. It’s both humorous and touching at times and a bit different. In it, he sporadically touches on the various pieces of his life: from his Canadian upbringing to his start in music, his hitting it big in L.A., bands and touring, his life at his California ranch, his hobbies and film projects, and his place in Hawaii. I think Neil’s muse as an amazing songwriter comes through in it. There’s some insight into songs and albums, but I almost wish there were more of this and less of some of the other ramblings. I’m still wondering about “Heart of Gold” and “After the Gold Rush.” But apparently Neil will be writing another book or so he mentions. I guess 498 pages of “Waging Heavy Peace” was not enough for him! So stayed tuned.